Railway car hinged clean-out strip



1955 T. E. BROWN 2,722,399

RAILWAY CAR HINGED CLEAN-OUT STRIP Filed May 15, 1952 24 INVENTOR. THEODORE E. BROWN BY United States Patent RAILWAY CAR HIN GED CLEAN -0UT STRIP Theodore E. Brown, Chicago, Ill. Application May 15, 1952, Serial No. 287,864 1 Claim. (Cl. 105-423) In railway box cars used for the transportation of grain and grain products, there exists a danger of contamination of the lading by weevils, other insects and rodents for the prevention of which it is essential that access be had to the dead space between the inner and outer sheathings of the car walls for thorough cleaning of that space between successive ladings of such products. This space is a potential breeding ground for insects which infest the lading.

The present invention is directed to devices for providing such'access through the use of a hinged sheathing strip that can be readily shifted between open and closed positions and, when in its closed position, will leave the inner sheathing walls absolutely flush and devoid of projections.

The main objects of this invention are, therefore, to provide an improved wall structure having a flushmounted sheathing strip which may be readily swung to an open position and held there temporarily and which may be readily swung to a closed position in flush alinement with the remainder of the wall sheathing, without having any of the hardware projecting from or visible from the exposed side of said sheathing; and more specifically, to provide an improved form of hinge that is capable of being mounted entirely behind the sheathing members and so articulated as to allow the movable strip to be swung forward freely so as to be complete 1y out of the way of cleaning operations; and to provide an improved bracket for holding the strip in its open position, said hinge and bracket being both articulated so that the meeting edges of the clean-out strip and the adjacent sheathing structure will form an unbroken tight joint when the strip is closed.

A specific embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrative of the manner in which the present invention may be applied to both vertical and horizontal clean-out strips of the inside sheathing walls of a railway box car.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective rear view of the right-hand side portion of the structure shown in Fig. l, with respect to a horizontally clean-out strip.

Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective showing the hinge structure that connects the swingable clean-out strip to the adjacent stationary sheathing member.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the hinge.

In the drawings, the frame of a railway boxcar is represented by the vertical studding of the side walls of the car and horizontal studding 11 of the end walls. The outer sheathing of the side walls is designated 12 and that of the end walls is designated 13 in the drawing. The side walls have horizontal flush jointed sheathing boards 14 attached to the inside of the studding 10 with a horizontal clean-out strip 15 swingable between an open position in which it is shown in Fig. 1

"2 and a closed position in which its free edge abuts the floor 16. Similarly, the end walls are lined with flush jointed vertical sheathing boards 17 having vertical clean-out strips 18 hinged thereto adjacent to the side walls. These vertical clean-out strips 18 have their lower ends fitting tight against the floor 16 of the car and their free edges flush with or close to the side wall sheathing 14. One of these vertical clean-out strips 18 is shown open and the other is shown closed in Fig. 1.

When the vertical panels 18 at both sides of the end walls of the car are open, it is possible to clean off the ledges formed by the horizontal stud members 11 and floor by means of a hose directing a stream of water or air from one opening to the other.

In the case of the side walls, a single clean-out strip 15 along the bottom of the inner sheathing 14 is sufficient because any matter getting through the walls would fall to the floor and, as can be seen from Fig. 1, would be readily accessible between the studs 10.

The hinges that connect the clean-out strip 15 with the adjacent sheathing member 14 are the same as those that connect the vertical clean-out strips 18 with the adjacent sheathing members 17, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Each such hinge comprises a pair of end strap hinge members 19 and 20 respectively fastened to the stationary sheathing and to the clean-out strip and a pair of intermediate straps 21 and 22 connected end to end in strap-hinge fashion with transverse pintles.

The hinge pintles 23' and 24 are offset to the same side of the plane of their respective main end members 19 and 20, so that these strap members can lie flat against alined planar surfaces. In the form shown in the drawings, the middle pintle 25 is positioned so that the body portions of the intermediate straps 21 and 22 are radially disposed with respect to the middle pintle.

When the hinge is connected to the sheathing and the clean-out strip, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the shoulders 26 of one end strap 19 are alined with the lower edge 27 of the stationary sheathing member 14 on the back of said member, so that its pintle 23 is spaced a little below the edge 27 and a portion of its bearing tongue 28 will serve as an abutment for the front face of the strip 15 to bear against, so as to aline the corresponding faces of the strip 15 and the stationary sheathing 14 when the strip is in its closed position against the floor 16.

The lower edge 27 of the stationary sheathing 14 is beveled upwardly and inward with respect to the space between the walls, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the strip 15 is swung down against the floor, it will be wedged against the stationary sheathing strip 14 in a manner that prevents the upper part of the clean-out strip from shifting outwardly. There is thus an interlocking engagement of the shiftable strip 15 with the stationary sheathing 14 that keeps these members in perfect alinement. By alining the shoulders 26 of the hinges with the lower surface 27 of the sheathing 14, the pivot 23 of the hinge will be located at a point sufficiently below the edge surface 27 to allow the strap 21 of the hinge to swing forward under the surface 27 when the strip 15 is swung to its open position; that is, in the direction of the arrow 29 of Fig. 3.

When the strip 15 is swung forward and upward, as shown in Fig. l, the strap 21 will occupy the position just described and the straps 22 and 20 will be in planar alinement with each other, the strap 22 bearing against the face of the strip 15, as shown in Fig. 1, due to the fact that the hinge pivot 24 is located inward from the edge 30 of the strip 15. As shown in Fig. 3, the strap 20 is fastened to the clean-out strip 15 in such position as will bring the straps 21 and 22 in contact with each other when the parts are in the position of Fig. 3.

If the hinge straps 21 and 22 are of a length equal to or more than twice the thickness of the sheathing boards, the clean-out strip in its open position can be folded against the stationary parts of the sheathing. If these straps are slightly less than such length, then the clean-out strip 15 will stand in an inclined position as shown in Fig. 1.

When the clean-out strip 15 is in the open position in which it is shown in Fig. 1, it is temporarily supported in such position by a holder which comprises a dog 31 pivoted at 32 so as to be rotatable in a plane at right angles to an arm 33 which in turn is pivoted on a vertical axis 34 in a bracket 35 fastened to one of the studs 10. In order to support the clean-out strip 15 in its open position, the arm 33 is first swung forward and then the dog 31 is turned up against the face of the strip 15, as shown in Fig. 1, where it is held by friction.

A latch hook 36 is mounted on the rear face of the clean-out strip 15 in position to engage a keeper 37 on one of the studs 10 for latching the strip 15 in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2. The latch 36 is normally urged by spring pressure into engagement with its keeper. A hole 38 in the strip 15 provides access to this latch when the strip 15 is closed. This hole is provided with a closure to prevent grain from passing through it, but such closure is not shown.

At the front and rear walls of the car where the sheathing is vertical, the clean-out strips 18 are accordingly vertically disposed and the hinges and other hardware are suitably located for allowing the clean-out strip to be swung as shown at the left of Fig. 1.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the structure shown may be altered or omitted Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

In a box car, a floor, an outside wall, inside sheathing secured in permanently-spaced relationship to the outside wall, a clean-out strip, and spaced hinges connecting the strip to the sheathing and constituting the sole support of the strip on the sheathing to afford swinging of the strip between positions alined with and transverse to the sheathing, each hinge comprising a pair of end straps each hingetlly connected to an intermediate strap in turn hingedly connected together at the ends not connected to the end straps, the end straps being fixed to the inner and normally-alined faces of the sheathing and strip respectively, the end strap being so positioned on the sheathing that the end hinged to the intermediate strap extends beyond the edge of the sheathing normally opposed to the strip so as to serve as an abutment for the strip to aline it with the sheathing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,158,257 Sheehe May 16, 1939 2,226,042 Zane Dec. 24, 1940 2,300,449 Rowe Nov. 3, 1942 2,308,025 Purcell Jan. 12, 1943 2,591,006 Radey Apr. 1, 1952 

